My Ropes Are Dropping Like Flies

[Josiahful]

I had about 5-6 ropes male and female in a 20 long tank, i went away for a day and when i came home the next morning, on of my ropes had died and was covered in a clearish white fungus(?) and now one at a time my ropes are getting these patchy white coverings on their scales, their eyes are clouding up, and their gills are developing a red appearence. Im horrified, and its not going to be too long till they're all gone, so i was trying to see what the heck it is in the first place thats killing them and what to do, and i tried antifungal treatments and added more salt.

 

[Hypostomus]

Do you mean ropefish as in violet gobies(http://www.remix-net.co.jp/Nettaigyo/photo2002/list_other05/gobioides-broussonetti3.JPG)? Or do you mean E. calabaricus(http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/img/reed2.jpg)?

The reason I ask is that while I don't know a great deal about the latter fish, the violet goby is brackish. You mentioned adding salt-- did you already create a brackish environment? If you are keeping them in freshwater it will contribute to their early demise.

Otherwise, how old is the tank? What readings do you get for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate? What kind of filtration do you have? Heat? Any unusual behavior when you first put them in (before you left)?

Edit: Unless you were keeping other messy fish in there before, I would say that one of the issues might be that there were ammonia/nitrite spikes after you put the fish in. That many fish at once (I'm considering the size that gobies are usually sold at in pet stores here) is really pushing it in a small tank..

 

[Menagerie]

[center:9898d97bb6] Welcome to AA, Josiahful! [/center:9898d97bb6]
What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)?
Look through these diagnostic charts and see what disease is affecting your fish:
http://www.aquatronicsonline.com/hobbyist/hobbyist3.htm
http://www.aqualink.com/disease/sdisease.html#ich
http://fish.mongabay.com/diseases.htm
http://www.everythingfishy.com/med_info.html
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebIndex/fishdisho.htm
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/health.htm

 

[Josiahful]

i appreciate the help, i'll get a nitrite/nitrate kit tomorrow and post what i found, but for some strange reason it isnt affecting my elephant nose gar, or my clown loaches, which seem to be in great condition. oh and yes the problem fish are E. calabaricus. thanks alot everyone, Go devils!

 

[Hypostomus]

If it's not affecting your other fish then it may be something that the ropefish had when you purchased them. Do you know how long the pet store had them before you purchased them?

If it's at all possible, isolate the ones that are left both to keep the disease away from your other fish and to avoid having to medicate the entire tank (especially with the clown loaches in there).

 

[Christmasfish]

Your clowns, if large could be picking on the slower ropes..
for prime real estate they are very persistant.
It seems like all your fish are bottom dwellers, making an already crowded situation intolerable for the species involved..... ph problems or spikes are the main suspect. 20 gallons gets real small -real fast.
I am only learning about bichirs, but young ones are much more dependent on the gilss and they are a little exposed past the plate for easy burning.

If they are new they may now be showing the affects of ph sickness or nitrate spikes at the lfs. 9+ misc fish is really gross overstock of that tank. I am sure your ropes are at least 3 in each....that is 18 gallons required right there off the top.
I am surprised the clowns an elephant are not the first to go..... unless it is they who are new....
Did you compare your ph to the lfs before dunking the ropes? Or adjust your fish to the tank slowly?

#1 How Old is this tank set up? (when did day one with fish begin?).
What were your ammonia READINGS? Some fish are more sensetive to certain compounds than others...